Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Napoleon avec cinq cent soldats...

I was thirteen in 1974And even then I knew we were fashion victims. Oh, and I had a white-boy 'fro. I'm serious. And magenta corduroy bell-bottoms.

I think my favorite image from the video is where Agneta (or is it Anni-Frid?) makes the little pistol/thumbs-up (?) gestures with her fingers. Hommage de battaille de Waterloo? Or just another Seventies pop idea gone terribly wrong?

Ah, but you're a mere child, my friend, too young to remember the Elvis stage that preceded the wonderful (?) 70s.

I have to admit to having always had a certain fondness for Abba. Always thought the girls were pretty hot and they made a pleasant sound. If you get a chance up there in the wilderness where you live, go see "Mamma Mia."

I, and most of those with whom I associated, really kind of abhorred the whole 70s disco scene, the music, the dress, all of it. I still recall when our wives dragged me and my best bud to see "Saturday Night Fever." He and I were gagging afterwards, which of course meant we had to consume large quantities of malt beverages to overcome our revulsion.

What's really odd is that now I actually LIKE a lot of the 70s music. In fact, I often have the XM radio on the 70s station, bopping along to that disco beat.

The dress is another matter. Worst look ever. My wife actually went out and bought me a light green leisure suit, which she expected me to work to work (wore suits in those days; picture a fed wearing a leisure suit). In her defense, she wasn't far past the bride stage, and she did learn a valuable lesson when that gruesome thing that had never been worn left the house in the Good Will donation box. After only a couple of more false starts she got the message.

And then the hair styles. A white boy with a fro is really funny looking. I worked with some guys in the service of the nation who should have known better, but actually got themselves fros. That lasted until they got shamed by their contemporaries into getting the perm washed out.

The 70s was not a particularly good decade for the nation. We had the post-Vietnam doldrums, with the military really suffering, plus we had inflation and the oil shocks. But then, one can say that about the 60s, 80s, 90s and 00s. Seems there hasn't been a "good" decade since the 50s.

I, on the other hand, despite all of the trouble and turmoil, had a pretty good decade. For one thing, nobody was shooting at me. For another, I turned 30 midway through, and what's not to like about being 30-years-old? And that's ultimately the life lesson.